


The Last Shinobi

by Blackflame000



Category: Naruto, RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:14:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24040408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackflame000/pseuds/Blackflame000
Summary: Team RWBY come across a boy in the runes of Mount Glenn calling himself Naruto Uzumaki. Offering to guide them to the white fang hideout, along the way the comments he makes and questions he asks starts making members of the team question themselves and the society around them.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Neopolitan/Roman Torchwick, Ruby Rose (RWBY)/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 11
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

Team RWBY was starting to get annoyed. They had been searching Mount Glenn for days with no sign of Torchwick or the White Fang anywhere.

Just as Ruby was about to give up, Zwei caught sent of something. She gathered up Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Oobleck and they went to investigate.

"Weapons at the ready ladies. We have no idea what might be waiting inside." Oobleck instructed as Zwei led them into a building.

The crept forward, slowly clearing the building until eventually, they found a man with scraggly blond hair, sitting against the wall not moving. It was clear he had been living here for a while. There was food and supplies scattered around the room, as well as the remains of a fire.

"It's rude to wake a man when he's sleeping you know. Even more so to intrude uninvited." The man said, not yet raising his head.

Ruby spoke up first. "Uh we didn't mean to bother you. We're looking for someone and when Zwei, thats our dog, caught scent of someone we thought they might be here."

At that the man looked up, and Ruby found the dull blue gaze staring back at her...unsettling. "And what exactly is Beacon doing here?" The man asked.

Blake and Yang looked at each other. Their posture shifting. "How do you know we are from Beacon..."

"Ah my mistake. The local architecture club coming to visit then? Tell me. Who else would send a group of armed kids here?" The man said, rolling his eyes.

At this, Oobleck grew tired of beating around the bush. "*Ahem* I am Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck, Huntsman and Professor at Beacon. We have intel that the White Fang had set up a base of operations in the area and were sent to investigate."

"Ah." The man said in realization then he slowly stood up. Team RWBY all took a step back and got into a fighting stance while Oobleck didn't flinch. "Naruto Uzumaki." He said, holding his hand out for Oobleck to shake which he did.

He looked at the girls with a mischievous smirk. "See, even out here it is still possible to act civilized." Naruto said. Turning back to address Oobleck, he said "Follow me. They are in the tomb." 

At this Oobleck's eyes lit up. "Of course! It makes perfect sense!" And with that Oobleck followed Naruto out.

Team RWBY, a bit confused, were broken out of their stupor when Oobleck, already down the hall called back to them. "Hurry up ladies!"

While they walked, Ruby was examining the man leading them. He didn't look much older than her, probably around the same age as the rest of her team. His hair was a bit wild and scraggly and the stubble on jis face suggested he hadn't shaved in a few days. He wore a black jacket with orange trim open with some kind of mesh shirt underneath with black pants tucked into a pair of black combat boots. 

But what really stuck out to her was his eyes. The way the light in them had seemed to have just...dulled. It reminded her of the look on her Uncle's face around the anniversary of her mom's death.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Weiss asking a question. "Where are we going? What even is this tomb?"

Seeing that their host had no interest in the question, Oobleck chose to answer in his stead. "We're not just looking for an underground crime network, we're looking for an UNDERGROUND crime network!"

There was a collective "Huh?" From the girls.

"Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense, and unique transportation; the city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main Kingdom! Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start! As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival: They took up shelter beneath the city! In massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface!"

"So...like a hidden village?"

Nobody except Ruby notice Naruto suddenly stiffen when she said that.

"In a matter of speaking, yes. A safe haven. Until... an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterranean Grimm. After that, the Kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb." Oobleck finished, his energy tapering off as his impromptu lecture ended on a somber note.

At that Naruto snorted with derision. "What he means to say is, the city became an expensive inconvenience and, rather than waste manpower and resources saving the people they had herded out here, the city decided to bury the "problem" and forget about it."

They all looked at Oobleck hoping he would refute the statement but he stayed silent and kept his back to them as he continued walking.

"That's...dark." Blake said, horrified at the thought of all those people left to die.

"That is why what we do matters so much." Oobleck said, his voice laced with steel. 

"You, blondie." Naruto said out of the blue after they walked for a while.

"Huh? It's Yang. What's up?"

"Why did you choose this line of work?"

"Well, to fight monsters and save..."

"I am well aware of what you are meant to do. I asked you why do you want to do that."

"The honest reason? I'm a thrill-seeker. I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know?"

He turns to Oobleck. "I see those promotional vids are still working. Telling kids about the exciting world out there waiting for them."

Yang frowned heavily hearing that.

"How about you Schnee? A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn't need the extra work. So... why choose this over a cushy job in Atlus?"

"It's exactly as you said: I'm a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty. And my name is Weiss." She ended with a bit of sass.

"Ah legacy and duty. The classics. And you, Faunus girl, your footsteps are heavy like you carry a great burden. Why did you choose this life?"

"My name is Blake, and how did you even know I was a Faunus?"

"Your bow twitches at sounds your teammates can't even hear. Either you have some kind of antenna hidden in there or your hiding another set of ears. I haven't met the former yet. So why this?"

"There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption... _Someone_ has to stop it."

"A noble sentiment. How do you plan to do that?"

"I, uh..."

"Naruto? How much farther do we have to go?" Ruby said, rescuing her teammates.

"Couple more hours." Naruto replied.

"Hm then I believe that will have to do for today. It's going to be dark soon." Oobleck said causing Naruto to change his path and go into the nearest stable building. "You four, set up camp. Oh, and please do make sure there are no more of those... creatures. I am going to set up a perimeter. If you need something to eat for the night, I have extra which I can share Mr. Uzumaki."

With that, Oobleck left.

Pulling out a pack of cigarettes, Naruto walked out after him. "I'm going for a smoke."

"You three set up camp. I'll take Zwei and see if there are any Grimm near by." Ruby said, and then she left too.

Ruby patrols the perimeter until she gets to the edge of the ruin. Looking out at the forest, she sees a line of giant creatures marching at the edge of the trees. "Woah, what are those? They look awesome!"

A voice from behind her startled her a bit. "Those are Grimm." Naruto said, cigarette in hand as he walked over to the edge and sat down before taking a long drag. 

Ruby watches them for a while before pulling out Crescent Rose and taking aim with her rifle. "Let's kill em."

"Hah. With that thing? All your gonna do is piss them off."

"But... What if it attacks us?"

"They won't. A Grimm that big has lived for centuries, has been fighting for centuries. And in that time, it has learned from those fights. It knows that attacking us isn't worth it. Even if it wins, it would now have the attention of Beacon and they will keep coming until its dead."

"Then why are they still so close to the city? What are they doing?"

"Waiting for the moment where, if it attacks, it knows that victory and survival are assured." Naruto said and flicked his smoke off the edge.

"Ain't that right Doc?" Naruto said, suddenly speaking louder.

Ruby was surprised, she hadn't noticed Oobleck at all but right on que he stepped out of the shadows.

"Very good answers to all her questions. While your word choice may be less than ideal, the content was superb."

"So Doc, why this?" Naruto asked.

"A-Actually Doctor Oobleck, I wanted to ask you that as well... Why did you want to become a Huntsman?"

"Ruby, look around and tell me what you see."

Ruby takes a look around, while Naruto lights another smoke still sitting on the ledge.

"Uhhh lots of old buildings, empty streets..."

"I see lives that could have been saved. As a Huntsman, it is my job to protect the people, and although I am capable of doing it with traditional weaponry, I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind. As a teacher, I'm able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it in the hands of every student that passes through my classroom. I look at this wasteland, and I see lives that could have been saved, but I also see an opportunity; an opportunity to study these ruins and _learn_ from this tragedy, and therefore become stronger. I am a Huntsman, Ruby, because there is nothing else in this world I would rather be. Will that answer suffice Mr. Uzumaki?"

Naruto stood up and began walking away. "First good answer I've heard to day."

Oobleck and Ruby followed him back to their camp.

Meanwhile with WBY,

The girls were discussing Naruto's question when he walked in. 

"Yo" He said announcing his presence before jumping up to the roof, one floor at a time, through the hole which ran the height of the building before laying back and finishing his smoke.

"Ah, wonderful; a textbook campfire!" Oobleck said, zipping into the room.

"Fire!" Ruby darts out from behind Oobleck to sit next to the fire, with Zwei plopping in her lap. "So... warm..."

"Very good! Eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for first watch?"

Lifts an arm while still looking into the fire, "Yo." 

Oobleck nods at her. "Mr. Uzumaki, would you like some food?"

The words "Toss up a bread roll." came down the hole.

Yang, feeling cheecky, did literally that. 

Tossing a bread roll up through the hole, a hand darted out to grab it as it reached the roof.

"Thanks."

Yang pouted at having been beaten already in round one.

As Ruby starts climbing up to the roof to start her watch, Yang stops her. 

"Hey, did Naruto ask you why you wanted to be a Huntress? I mean... what did you tell him?"

"Hmm... No, he didn't. Weird. Oh, well; good night, guys!"

Without a second carefree thought, she continues on her way.

Yang looks disappointed in the lack of an answer. Blake is similarly troubled as she unrolls her mat, Weiss tries lying down but fails to sleep, Yang half-heatedly eats her dinner of bread rolls. Soon, all three Huntresses are on their backs around the fire, weapons within easy access, wondering why they are there. 


	2. Chapter 2

The light of the full moon shone down through the hole in the roof on the sleepless WBY. Yang was the first to give up on pretending.

"Blake, are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like, what was he trying to say?"

"Maybe he was just curious."

"You think?"

"No."

"Weiss, are you awake?" Yang asked, seeking a second opinion.

"Of course I'm awake! You two are talking. And I think he... When I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it. But, it's not what you think. I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a... moral gray area."

"That's putting it lightly." Blake interjected.

Weiss soldiered on through the comment. "Which is why I feel the need to make things right. If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be end of it."

Blake joined in on the sharing. "All my life, I fought for what I thought was right. I had a partner named Adam. More of a mentor, actually. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be not perfect for everyone. I joined the Academy because I knew that Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy, what will I - how can I undo so many years of hate?"

"I'm sure you'd figure it out. You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake." Yang said trying to cheer her friend up.

Blake, however, just felt like a hypocrite. "But I am! I do it all the time! When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran! When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my Semblance! I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself; an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away!"

Yang didn't know what to say to them. She wasn't like Weiss or Blake. "At least you two have something that drives you. I've just kinda of always, gone with the flow, y'know? And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. But how long can I really do that for? I wanna be a Huntress, not really because I want to be a hero, but because I want the adventure. I want a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring. And that'll be a good thing. Being a Huntress just happens to line up with that. I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said, ever since she was a kid, she'd dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today. I guess I just wanna stick around to make sure somebody watches after her since she is so focused on helping everyone else."

"Well, she's still just a kid." Weiss said

"She's only two years younger. We're all kids by that measure." Blake pointed out.

"Well, not anymore. I mean, look where we are! In the middle of a warzone and armed to the teeth!" Yang countered

"It's the life we chose." Blake said, resignation in her voice.

Weiss however, had steel in hers. "No. It's a job. We all had this romanticized vision of being a Huntress in our heads! But at the end of the day, it's a job to protect the people! And whatever we want, will have to come second."

A floor up, Naruto was quietly listening to the whole exchange. When he asked those questions, he had hoped to discourage them from this life. Instead he helped them find their resolve. At least theirs wasn't combined with a blood oath he thought sardonically.

Checking the time, Yang went to relieve Ruby of her watch allowing her sister and dog to take her already warm sleeping bag.

As Ruby began settling in, Zwei suddenly started pulling on the bottom of her skirt. "Huh? Zwei, it's late. Go back to bed." Zwei promptly ran off instead. Chasing after him, Ruby continues to cwll him in vain. "Zwei! Zwei! Ugh! Zwei! Zwei, where are you? Zwei! Huh?" When she finally catches up to him, she finds Zwei pissing on the broken off head of a statute. "Zwei, this is a wasteland! You literally could have done that anywhere!"

"Bark!"

Off in the distance, Ruby hears a voice. "What was that?"

Ruby takes cover behind some rubble.

"What was what?" A second voice asks.

"I thought I heard a Beowolf or something." Returns the first voice.

"Hmph. Let's just finish our patrol and get back to base. This place gives me the creeps." The 2nd says, as the two walk past the hidden Ruby and Zwei revealing themselves as White Fang members.

As the grunts walk away, Ruby and Zwei sneak around in the background, following them. They eventually reach a ruined building with a pair of metal doors, and Ruby hides behind a corner, holding Zwei out to watch them.

"Did they go in yet? One bark means yes."

The sound of the door closing echoes out.

"Bark!"

"Oh! This is it! This is it!" She takes out her scroll and tries to call her teammates. However, the screen says "Low Signal" "Aw man! Come on, we gotta get the others!"

Ruby and Zwei hurry off down the street. However, the asphalt beneath them suddenly sinks before caving in. Ruby grabs onto a ledge and catches Zwei. She tosses him up out of the hole and begins to attempt to pull herself up. However, the ledge she is holding onto breaks off, and she plummets into a huge cave filled with ruined buildings, far below the surface. She lands on a building up against a cavern wall, and as she gets up, a nearby door bursts open to reveal two other White Fang grunts

Both turn, aiming their guns at her.

"Freeze!"

"Where did she come from?"

Ruby is cornered, to her back a large chasm.

"You're a long way from home, little girl."

Ruby reaches back for her scythe, only to realize that she doesn't have it. Both grunts approach her, and one of them grabs her arm.

"Hey! Hands off!"

Ruby jerks her arm out of the grunt's hand and starts punching him. It has very little effect, and he punches her in the face hard enough to knock her down.

"The boss is gonna want to see this one..."

The grunt kicks her in the head hard enough to knock her out.

Neither notice a figure following them from the shadows.

Back at the camp, Yang's watch was just ending.

"Hey Weiss, it's your... Zwei? Your back but wheres Ruby?"

Oobleck jerks awake from the commotion. "What?"

"Naruto is gone too. I swear if that motherfucker hurt Ruby there wont be enough left of his corpse for even the smallest Grimm to eat." Yang said, hair now on fire as she wakes up Weiss and Blake with her outrage.

"What's going on?" Blake asks, slow to wake up.

"Grab your weapons! Your leader may be in trouble." Oobleck said grabbing his hat and thermos.

Ruby awakes to the two grunts who caught her dragging her by both arms through the underground city. All around her, White Fang members are at work, doing various things such as piloting a Paladin to carry large shipping containers. There is a loud sound nearby as one of the White Fang members drops a large device.

"Hey, be careful! What are you trying to do, blow us to the moon?" Roman's voice rings out through the city.

"Sorry sir!"

"Hey boss! Found something you might want to see!" One of the grunts calls out.

"Is it good or bad, Perry? Because let me tell ya, I have had a day." Asks Roman yells from inside a railcar.

"Uh, it's a little girl?" Perry responds.

He leans out through the doorway and sees Ruby and immediately lights a cigar. "That would be bad."

Meanwhile,

Zwei leads Oobleck and WBY to the hole that Ruby fell into, and Yang spots Crescent Rose next to the hole.

"Ruby's scythe!" Yang calls out.

"Oh no." Blake responds, running over.

"Do you think she fell?" Weiss asked

"Fell?" Oobleck asks a from a dozen feet away.

"Or she was pushed." Yang says darkly.

"Down there." Weiss points out to Oobleck as he approaches.

"Lets go girls." Oobleck says before dropping down into the hole.

With Ruby,

"Wow! You are much more manageable without that oversized gardening tool of yours." Roman says, laughing as he backhands Ruby knocking her off her feet.

Ruby gets up and charges at Roman, which he simply sidesteps, sending Ruby stumbling across the floor.

"Oh man. You know, Perry, I really did need this."

Perry raises his thumb in agreement as Roman laughs.

Roman walks over to Ruby and aims Melodic Cudgel at her. "But seriously. How'd you find this place, Red?"

Ruby growls and uses her Semblance to escape Roman and start running for an exit.

"Whoa!" Roman says, surprised by this.

Smiling, Roman stands up, spins Melodic Cudgel in his hands, and aims the handle at Ruby. He fires the handle, which doubles as a grappling hook, at Ruby, catching her by her hood and allowing Roman to pull her back.

"I see you've got some tricks up your sleeve! Let me make this clear: We're not through here yet."

"Yo, mind if I borrow a light?" A voice from behind Roman says.

Naruto walks out of the shadows with an unlit cigarette in his hands holding Roman's lighter in his hand.

"Who the hell are you?" Says Roman, doing a quick 180 before patting his jacket down only to discover that the blond boy had infact taken his lighter somehow.

Naruto just smirks, he flicks the lighter open, lighting his smoke before tossing the lighter back to Roman.

On que, the moment Roman catches the lighter, a massive explosion suddenly rocks the cavern.

"What did you do?" Roman demands.

"Well you had so many explosives laying around, I figured you wouldn't mind me borrowing some of those either."

During the commotion, Ruby takes the opportunity to move next to Naruto and away from Perry and the other White Fang members.

"Count to seven then run." Naruto whispers.

Confused, Ruby does what he says. On seven, another, closer, explosion shakes the cavern disorienting Roman and his goons.

"How did you know I was here?" Ruby asked as the pair ran through the forgotten city.

"I followed you when you left." Naruto replied.

"Wait. Then why did you wait so long to help me...Torchwick hits hard." Ruby said, annoyed that she had gotten hit for apparently no reason.

Naruto was silent for a while. "...I don't get involved with this kind of thing anymore. I was hoping you could escape on your own."

"What do you mean any..." Ruby was cut off by the sound of a third smaller explosion, followed by multiple White Fang members running around the corner, some firing at an unknown enemy.

From behind, Roman yells "Somebody kill her!" As he and his group of White Fang continue to give chase.

Roman and the White Fang members around him open fire on Ruby and Naruto, which they dodge and weave between.

Roman turns angrily to the White Fang member next to him. "Attach this cart and spread the word: We're starting the train."

"But we're not finished!"

Roman hooks the grunt around the neck swinging with melodic cudgel him towards the wall before pressing the barrel of his weapon to the back of the grunts head. "Do it or you're finished!"

As Yang, leading the charge, comes around the corner, she jumps into the middle of the White Fang she had been chasing, slamming both fists into the ground creating a fiery explosion and blasting them all back.

Ruby, seeing her sister, gives Yang a running hug.

"Ruby!" Yang yells out, smothering Rubh in a tight hug.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asks as the rest of the huntsmen and dog catch up.

Yang immediately lets Ruby go, getting in Naruto's face, her semblance still amping her up.

"If you touched a single hair on her head I'll put you in the fucking ground!" Yang screamed at him.

Naruto, however, is completely unfazed.   
"You wouldn't be the first to try." He responds, cold blue eyes staring directly into Yang's red ones.

"Yang! Stop! I'm fine, I'm fine! He helped me get away after I fell and Torchwick captured me. But listen! Torchwick's got all kinds of weapons and robots down there." Ruby said, hugging her sister from behind to calm her down.

"What?!" The rest of WBY says, for different reasons. Oobleck walks up and hands Ruby her weapon.

"Androids, mechs, they're all loaded up on the train cars!"

"Ahhhh, that's ridiculous. These tunnels are sealed, the tracks lead to a dead-end." Oobleck says as he processes everything he just heard.

Immediately, as if out of spite, Roman can be heard over an intercom. "Get to your places, we are leaving now!"

The train starts moving towards the tunnels.

"Well, it sounds like they're going somewhere." Yang points out.

Ruby pulls out her scroll. "We need backup. Let me call Jaune."

Ruby's Scroll flashes "Low Signal".

"I can't get through!"

"So, what do we do?" asks Weiss.

"I believe we only have one option..." Oobleck says with, resolved to handle the situation as he stares down the train.

"We're stopping that train!" Ruby says, before beginning to run towards it.

A White Fang member is standing guard on a railcar when suddenly he hears a noise from above him. 

Poking his head out the window, he sees a trail of rose petals. 

Taking out his comm piece, he begins to call in his suspicion. "I think they're on the..."

The White Fang member falls down, out of the window, as Oobleck hits him in the head with his weapon from above.

"Hurry, children! We must get to the front and stop this train!" Oobleck calls out.

"Err... Professor?" Weiss says, getting his attention before he runs off.

"Doctor..."

"What's that?" She asks, pointing into the hatch of the railcar.

Oobleck kneels down to take a look. "That my dear... appears to be a bomb."

Team RWBY all cringe away from the hatch.

Dozens of White Fang members begin climbing onto the train.

"Well, I didn't expect them to go eas..." Oobleck is interupted by the sound of the bomb arming itself.

"...y on us." Closing the hatch, Oobleck stands back up

"Time to go!"

As they start running away, Oobleck grabs Ruby

"Ruby! Detach the caboose! It will kill us all!"

"On it."

Ruby jumps down onto the connectors and gets ready to cut the connection, but as she does, the connection comes loose on its own.

"Huh?" She looks up at Oobleck. "It decoupled itself!"

"What?!" Oobleck says completely caught off guard once more.

"I guess he really doesn't want us on this train."

As Oobleck looks back at the detached cart, it explodes in the tunnel.

"That's not good..."

"Err, neither is this!" Blake says opening the next hatch.

"Another bomb?!" Weiss says in shock.

It then clicked for Naruto. "They all have bombs. They plan on taking all the grimm living in these caves and bring them to Vale!" He said as he starts running along the train.

The bomb under Team RWBY charges up and starts beeping and the cart they're on detaches itself, forcing Team RWBY to run to the next cart.

"We can't defuse all of these in time. Get to the front and separate all the cars from the train at once. One big explosion is better than letting them release every Grimm in this mountain. And if we are lucky, it'll collapse the cave on all the grimm." Naruto said as he started running towards the front. 

A dozen or so White Fang begin climbing on top of the train to stop then

"Get the humans!"

Team RWBY jump forward to attack the incoming White Fang members. Oobleck turns around and watches the detached train car explode. Only this time it creates a hole allowing multiple types of Grimm to emerge.

The horde of Grimm begin advancing quickly toward the runaway train.

"We have to hurry!" Oobleck calls out before turning to Weiss, Blake, and Yang "You three, go below and try to stop those bombs!"

"What about us?" Ruby asks.

"We're going to stop this train."

"Yeah, I know. I said that earlier."

The group moves forward. As the train continues towards it destination, White Fang members start to pilot multiple Atlesian Paladin-290s, and jump to the top of the train infront of Naruto, Ruby, Zwei, and Oobleck.

"Up ahead!" Oobleck calls out

One of the Paladins charges towards them.

Oobleck takes a sip from his thermos before transforming it into its weapon mode, a small flame burning at its tip. Zwei barks, prompting he's ready for an attack. He jumps and flips in the air, and Oobleck bats him, turning him into a small fireball. The Paladin is seen shooting, only for it to get knocked off the train by the combination attack. The Paladin tumbles on the train tracks, and explodes when it hits a barricade. Another Paladin appears in front of Zwei, its guns aimed at him. Suddenly, multiple fire attacks hit it, and Oobleck swiftly knocks it off the train as well

Through the flames, Naruto blitz forward. Dodged around a rocket, he jumps over a swipe before planting both feet on the windshield of the Paladin and kicking it off the train. Using the momentum from the kick, Naruto turns and punches another Paladin down before Ruby shoveds the barrel of her weapon into a gap in the Paladins armor, disabling it.

Down below, Yang, Weiss, and Blake enter the train car.

"I guess this is what we trained for." Yanh says cracking her knuckles.

Weiss reaches into her pouch and gives Blake a magazine filled with Dust vials.

"Here, this should help you."

Blake slides the mag into Gambol Shroud, and then the three of them charge forward. Suddenly, Neopolitan drops from the ceiling and blocks their path.

"You two go on ahead. This one's mine." Yang says.

Blake and Weiss proceed forward. As Neo prepares for their attack, Yang fires a round to distract her, allowing Blake and Weiss to continue. Yang steps forward toward her opponent, staring down as Neo gives a sinister smile. The two begin their fight.

In the next train car, Blake and Weiss are seen running, and then look at each other when they hear the sound of revving up ahead. A figure is seen dragging a chainsaw along the floor. The camera pans up, revealing the White Fang Lieutenant.

"You go on ahead!" Weiss says.

"Got it!"

The Lieutenant chuckles menacingly as he holds up his chainsaw. The two Huntresses-in-training charge forward, with Blake deflecting an attack as Weiss flips backward. Weiss delivers multiple strikes at the Lieutenant, knocking him down. She then smiles at Blake as she proceeds to the next car. The Lieutenant gets back up, again chuckling menacingly.

"Finally, I get to kill a Schnee..."

Weiss holds up Myrtenaster en garde.

In the next train car, Blake stops and grits her teeth when she's greeted by a familiar foe.

"Hello, kitty cat. You miss me? You know, we really gotta stop meeting like this. People are gonna talk..." Roman says.

Blake charges forward to attack, starting their brief battle. She soon knocks him down, and when he attempts to get back up, Blake steps on his chest and points her sword at his throat.

Roman chuckles nervously before his voice gets a dramatic change in tone. 'Why are we fighting? I saw you at the rally, we're on the same side and you know it..."

Meanwhile, Weiss is fighting the Lieutenant. Things take a turn for the worst as the Lieutenant begins adjusting to Weiss's fighting style.

"C'mere, princess!"

The Lieutenant grabs Weiss' face and slams her into the floor, knocking her unconscious. He then throws her at the door to the engine.

Yang's fight with Neo has gone from bad to worse. The smaller girl is toying with Yang, deflecting and redirecting all of her strikes with ease. Growing bored, when Yang over steps again, Neo uses her umbrella to hook the foot, pulling it forward and bringing Yang to the ground. Getting on Yang's back, Neo grabs a fistfull of her hear before slamming Yang's head into the metal floor repeatedly, brutally knocking the bigger girl unconscious.

In the front of the train, Roman being held down by Blake, he grunts as she points her blade at his throat.

"Oh, still feisty. Soooo, what are we gonna do now? You think a little bow on top is gonna make people forget who you were? What you've done...?"

As she grits her teeth at his words, Blake hears the door from the previous train car breaks open behind her. An unconscious Weiss is thrown to the floor, with the Lieutenant emerging from the doorway, holding his chainsaw.

"So what's it gonna be, Blake?" Roman taunts.

She sheaths Gambol Shroud and kicks Roman in the face, knocking him unconscious. Blake goes over to Weiss' aid, and flees immediately before the Lieutenant can reach them.

Meanwhile, Neo pulls a hidden blade from within her umbrella. She prepares to deal the finishing blow, grinning sadistically while doing so. Suddenly, a masked warrior - raven-haired and clad in red and black - comes out of nowhere and knocks Neo back. Neo's eyes change from brown and pink to white, mirroring her fearful expression. The mysterious swordswoman slowly draws her sword again - long and crimson red - and holds it up intimidatingly. Neo, realizing the imminent threat before her, wastes no time and disappears in a flash. The swordswoman looks down at the still unconscious Yang, and slashes her sword to the side, opening an eerie red portal. She walks away from Yang and into the portal. At that moment, Yang regains some consciousness and slowly gets back up. As she opens her eyes again, she gets a brief glimpse at her rescuer before the woman disappears. Yang rubs her head, still reeling after just regaining consciousness, before standing up and leaving the scene.

One top of the train, the Doctor dodges a couple swipes from the Paladin, and then runs to the top of its head, and shoots it in its engine before jumping back down. Ruby twirls Crescent Rose around a few times, and then she and Oobleck fire simultaneously at the Paladin's feet, knocking it off the train. Another Paladin attempts to shoot them from the side but Naruto jumps onto the windscreen, punching the reinforced glass twice, breaking it before pulling the White Fang member out of the cockpit and throwing him to the chasing Grimm to be devoured.

"Ruby! You go on ahead!" Oobleck calls out.

"But..."

"The Doc and I got this. Separate the train cars from the engine or none of this is going to matter." 

The Doctor goes to take on two oncoming Paladins while Naruto begins to grab the attention of the remaining handful so Ruby can leave. Before she leaves, Ruby notices the saddened Zwei looking up at her. She smiles and motions for him to go join his new friend.

"Go."

With that, Zwei expression changes dramatically and barks happily before running off to fight alongside the Doctor and Naruto. Ruby hurries to the front of the train. The remaining members of Team RWBY reemerge from the train cars to rejoin their leader. Ruby looks on worriedly as she realizes the train is on a collision course with a thick concrete wall.

"What do we do?" Blake asks

Ruby and Weiss smile at each other, and the latter forms an ice shield to protect her teammates, bracing themselves for the impending crash. The train crashes into the wall, with a massive explosion as the ice shatters and Team RWBY is thrown to the ground.

As Ruby wakes up, she hears the sound of an emergency alarm blaring as her vision comes back with buildings into her view. She turns her head to the lower right and sees Blake and Yang slowly getting back up, her sister coughing as the dust settles. She turns her head again and sees Weiss sitting up against a large piece of debris, who also gives a thumbs up at her team leader signaling she's okay. The team of huntresses then notice, much to their chagrin, that they have returned to the central part of Vale, and multiple civilians in the area notice them among the debris. Ruby hears the sound of low rumbles and growls from behind her. Suddenly, a giant King Taijitu emerges from the hole, and multiple Grimm start pouring into Vale. The civilians scream as they attempt to flee the chaos. The sounds of screams and roars fill the air, and all Team RWBY can do is watch in horror. 

"I fucking hate snakes!" Naruto yells, erupting from the burning rubble, literally on fire, before jumping and slamming down on top of the Taijitu's head with a double hammer fist, killing it instantly.

He then turns to Team RWBY.

"Stop staring and start fighting. Gotta slow down the Grimm until help arrives. And one of you go help the Doc. Hes pinned by some rocks." With that, Naruto jumps back into the fray, dealing death to every Grimm he can get his hands on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im retconning Naruto's clothing and tattoos. Originally, I had him looking like he does for my other story Demon Trigger but I am going to save that for when I remake that story instead.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto stood as a bulwark at the mouth of the opening. While the smaller grimm were too numerous for him to handle alone, he still had the strength to deal with the larger beasts which emerged from the cavern.

As the City burned around him, with a deep sigh, he slowly shifted into an old stance. One hand behind his back with the other raised in front of him, palm towards his face. The motions trained into his bones allowing his mind to shut off, leaving the scene around him behind. In a blur of speed, Naruto vanishes, appearing behind a Death Stalker, grabbing it by the tail and slamming it into a swatch of grimm before slamming his fist into the vulnerable underbelly of the beast.

Meanwhile, hordes of Beowolved and Ursai streamed out of the hole. They focus on the nearest life forms, namely Team RWBY as they free an unconscious Oobleck from a pile of rocks.

Ruby jumps into action first, spinning Crescent Rose as she reaps the oncoming grimm, using the momentum of her massive weapon to propell both herself and her blade faster with each swing in a deadly dance of death. 

Putting Oobleck on a nearbh roof and creating a dome of ice around him, the rest of Team RWBY joins the fray.

Using her semblance, and gamble shroud, to fool, entice, and draw in a herd the grimm together, Blake sets the stage for Weiss who uses her glyphs to launch the grimm into the air.

Using Ember Celica, Yang blasts herself into the air, punching and shooting the helpless floating grimm with ease.

As Yang falls to the ground, a Nevermore attempts to spear her with it's beak.

"NORA SMASH!" 

Just as the Nevermore is about to reach Yang, Nora slams into the monstrosities head from above with Magnhild with a resounding boom. 

Nearby, the Bullhead containing the rest of Team JNPR lands and Jaune immediately begins barking orders to his team.

"Pyrrha! Go help Ruby thinning out the grimm as much as you can. Ren, we are going to make sure Weiss and Blake can keep trapping the grimm for Yang. And Nora...smash." Jaune says as he runs, intercepting a charging Ursa headed for Weiss with his shield while Ren kills the beast as it focuses Jaune.

Despite their efforts, they are slowly getting overwhelmed. Ruby and Pyrrha are forced to fall back to the rest of the group. Even Naruto has his hand full with the larger grimm. A Death Stalker manages to get by him as he is fighting a trio of King Taijitu.

As the grimm they are fighting chases them, they are suddenly cut down by machine gun fire as Atlesian Military drop ships arrive on the scene as well as a wing of Bullheads from Beacon.

Team CFVY disembarks and moves to reinforce RWBY and JNPR.

Yatsuhashi Daichi jumps into a pack of Grimm, unlimbering Fulcrum before smashing it on the ground, unleashing a shockwave that sends them flying. Velvet Scarlatina and Fox Alistair respectively kick and punch the Grimm with Fox impaling a Creep. Nearby a large spiked Ursa roars before charging them. Fox intercepts it with a kick then unleashes a combo of slashes and punches with Sharp Retribution. Knocking the Grimm skyward with an uppercut, as it descends he delivers a blow to the head with both hands that sends it flying. After landing it swells up and explodes impaling the nearby Grimm with its spikes. Coco walks forward swatting a few away with her weapon. Yatsuhashi shields Velvet before the two start advancing.

"Nice hustle, Fox. Good job." Coco gives him a slap on the ass before whispering something to him.

Fox jumps back blushing as Coco approaches a large Beowolf.

Coco, looking over the top of her glasses, addresses the grimm. "You just destroyed my favorite clothing store." The Beowolf roars at her and she spits in it's face. "Prepare to die."

Coco, after swatting parrying a claw swipe, kicks the Beowolf in the crotch. She, as it falls to the ground and looks at her, leans down and slams her bag onto its head. She effortlessly swats away three more Beowolves, then leaps back to avoid a Death Stalker's tail. Velvet steps forward, and moves a hand toward Anesidora about to open the box.

"Hey, come on, you just spent all the semester building that up. Don't waste it here." Coco says, putting a hand on Velvet's shoulder.

Coco then transforms Gianduja into a giant minigun, and starts firing, slaughtering the advancing horde of Grimm, including the Death Stalker and three Nevermores. Port and Oobleck and a reawakened Oobleck join her in opening fire on the horde as Glynda uses her semblance to seal the horde in.

That just leaves Naruto who, having taken care of the remaining large grimm, is dispatching all the remaining grimm who come at hit one hit at a time. 

Team RWBY and JNPR can't help but watch. 

"He is like a machine. Even the Atlesian Mechs seem less robotic than him." Yang says.

"It doesn't even look like he is fighting. He is simply going through the motions and everything around him dies." Pyrrha adds.

As he finishes off the remaining grimm, Naruto awakes from his battle sleep noticing the eyes upon him but ignoring the looks. They were nothing more than echoes of the past.

As Team RWBY takes a chance to finally catch their breath, the look around the scene before them.

"Well, we did it." Yang says, unsure about whether she should be happy they won, relieved the damage wasn't worse, or upset they couldn't stop the whole incident.

"We did it." Blake repeats. Adding focus to the statement, to what she believed was important.

"If we don't get extra credit for that, I'm gonna be seriously disappointed." Weiss adds flippantly, tired and cranky from everything that had happened.

"Weiss, a two-headed snake literally crushed a bakery. I wouldn't count on it." Yang points out.

"Plus, I mean, we didn't solve everything. A lot of people were hurt, and we still don't even know why they did this, or who that mystery girl was." Ruby adds.

Cutting to the reality of the situation, Weiss vocalizes the unfortunate truth. "Well, not every story has a neat and tidy ending. Even a pyrrhic victory is still a victory and that's better than a loss.

"We might not have all the answers, but we do have a lot of dangerous people behind bars. And I think that's something we could be proud of." Blake says as she motions to Torchwick being escorted to an Atlesian Military ship.

"She's right." Naruto says as he leans on a wall behind where the girls are sitting. "What is done, is done. If there is good to be found in something take it because other times, there won't be any." With that, Naruto gets up, hands in his pockets, and walks into the city.

Ruby watches him as he slowly disappears from view. Lost in her thoughts as her friends continue to chat.

Up in his office, overlooking the city, Ozpin answers the call on his scroll from the Vale City Council.

"Ozpin?" Ozpin doesn't respond. "Ozpin!" The councilman calls out again.

Ozpin turns his chair towards his desk.

"Yes, Councilman."

A video feed of the councilmen is shown on a holographic screen with Ironwood's video feed in the corner.

"You've left us no choice! The Vytal Festival tournament cannot be broadcast, let alone held, if we are unable to ensure the safety of the citizens."

Ozpin sips from his cup waiting for the conclusion to be vocalized.

"Ahem... Therefore, we have reached out to the Atlas Council and together have decided that the best action is to appoint General Ironwood as head of security for the event."

"Thank you, Councilman. Our Kingdom is happy to lend as many troops as it takes to ensure that the event runs smoothly and safely as possible." Ironwood says.

"And we thank you, General."

"Will that be all?" Ozpin interupts, having finished his drink.

"For now. But after this festival comes to a close, we are going to have a serious discussion about your position at Beacon Academy. General Ironwood's reports over the last few weeks have left us somewhat... concerned. I am sure you understand."

The councilmen's video feed disappears, leaving Ironwood's video feed alone with Ozpin. They silently stare at each other for a moment.

"This is the right move, Ozpin. I promise, I will keep our people safe, you have to trust me." Ozpin elects to not respond.

Ironwood hangs up the video call. Ozpin then turns his chair around to look at the large Atlesian Ariship outside his window.

"Your losing. Losing your city, your position, and your war." Naruto says as he steps out of the shadows in the corner of the office.

Oz regards him briefly before reaching into a drawer of his desk, pulling out two sake cups and a large white bottle.

Filling both cups, he offers one to Naruto, noting the thick black bands etched around the mans wrist.

"I'm surprised to see you awake...You still shackle yourself I see." Oz notes outloud.

Naruto just glares at the man.

With a sigh Oz continues. "To what do I owe this visit. Surely you don't think so little of me as to think I am not aware of my position." 

"The cycle is breaking. For centuries, whenever the light began to fade, someone would rise and beat back the dark maneuvered by you every time. Except this time you don't control the pieces on the board. The queen died young, the bishop saw through your actions and left, and the knight..." Naruto looks up as more Atlesian airships docked at the school. "No longer goes where told."

"Your recruits are getting younger, your walls no longer mighty. You are losing." Naruto says as Oz looks at him sourly.

"Once again, surely you don't think so little of me as to think I am not aware of my position." Oz says after draining his cup in one go.

"The balance has been broken and the cycle will end. The age of dark approaches. Neither of you can be allowed to win. As long as both the grimm and the kingdoms survive, the people have a unified enemy to strive against and lack the time to destroy each other. The proxy war between you and Salem is best kept a stalemate." Oz makes no effort to hide his shock. The man before him had never intervened up to this point. 

"All that remains is whether you knew I was on that mountain when you sent your new 'champions' seeking to spur me into action or whether coincidence chose to involve me. Regardless. The four you sent up that old mountain are now mine. They are to meet me in the forest when there classes finish for the day. Tell whatever story to them that you need to. You are much better at that kind of thing than me." With that, Naruto walked out of Oz's office, his sake cup untouched.

Oz stares at it for a while before drinking it as well before calling Glynda into his office.

The next day, Glynda was leading Team RWBY to the training ground at the edge of the forest.

"Professor Goodwitch? You still haven't told us what is going on." Weiss said. 

Arriving on the training ground, Glynda turns to address the four students.

"The four of you have a talent for finding trouble far beyond what you should be dealing with and leaving significant destruction in your wake." Glynda turns around, with a snap of her crop and a glare that could freeze hell. Sighing, she continued. "Instead of having you report the information you discover so that it can be properly taken care of...Professor Ozpin has instead elected to have you all trained under someone more experienced to better handle the situations you find yourself in." Glynda said, as she massaged her temples to ward away her returning headache.

Team RWBY all looked shocked before Blake's pupils rapidly dilate then retract as she narrows her eyes and Goodwitch.

"...is it Professor Port?" Blake asks, as her teammates all react to the horror of that thought.

"No, but if you prefer him I am sure he would be delighted to train you instead."

The girls all turned to see Naruto, meditating under a tree a few feet away. 

"Huh? You?" Ruby says, confused.

"Mr. Uzumaki is the one Professor Ozpin has asked to train you four." Glynda responds.

"Him? But he is the same age as us." Blake points out.

Glynda is already walking away, to take a long bath and be done with this day.

"What a waste of time." Weiss says, annoyed.

"Oh? You really think so?" A mischievous look now graced Naruto's face as a spark energy appeared in his eyes.

"How about this then." Naruto pulls a small silver bell out of his pocket, before attaching it to the waist of his pants.  
"Take this bell from me and you can spend the time Oz set aside for your training however you want. You have 15 minutes. Oh and if any of your Auras go red you are officially out of the fight."

"This is gonna be soooo easy." Yang cracking her knuckles as she syncs up her aura with her scroll.

"What about if we get your Aura low?" Blake asked. 

"Sorry that won't work. I can't make an an Aura shield for the scroll to display." Naruto said with a shrug.

Team RWBY looked at him like he had grown a second head.

"What? Then what even is the point of this if you aren't even capable of shielding? Is Ozpin punishing us by wasting our time?" Weiss said, utterly confused by all this. 

Naruto sighed, took a step forward then vanished. 

A moment later, he was standing behind them with Crescent Rose in his hands. 

Activating it Naruto put his hand on the point and pushed. Team RWBY watched in horror as the edge went through the palm of his hand until a good two inches was protruding out of the back of his hand, blood running down his wrist and along the blade of the weapon.

"What the fuck!" Yang said, breaking the silence.

Naruto said nothing, just pulled the blade out of his hand before wiping the blood on his pants before showing them all his palm.

The skin of his palm knit itself together right before their eyes before a moment later, the only evidence of what had happened was the blood.

"I'm special, and trust me. I can take far worse than this. The timer starts now. Come at me with the intent to kill or you won't stand a chance." Naruto said as he tossed Crescent Rose back to Ruby who looked at the blade still shocked.

Nobody moved. 

"Fine then. If your just going to stand there I'll get this over with."

In another burst of speed, Naruto appeared in the middle of Team RWBY. 

Opening with a sweep, taking out Weiss before rising into a kick which Yang blocked but the force sent her back a few feet.

Ruby was the first to retaliate. She began spinning her scythe creating multiple vertical slices. Naruto side stepped the first three before stepping into her, absorbing the impact of the weapon on his shoulder.

He followed this up with a kick to the side of her knee, which buckled slightly under the force, before kicking her in the stomach, sending her flying deep into the forest.

A thrust from behind forced him to dodge, driving him towards Blake who slashed at his head.

Crouching down to avoid the strike, Naruto rose into Blake using the top of his head to slam into her jaw, only for her turn into shadows, revealing he had hit a clone. 

Blake and Weiss began engaging him at the same time.

A thrust parried with a kick but his riposte was interupted by Blake attacking again.

Jumping away from her strike, he was once again engaged by Weiss who launched multiple thrusts at Naruto which he parried them all.

The three briefly danced like this for a while. All of Weiss's thrusts getting parried while Blake was unable to hit Naruto and was forced to use her semblance often to avoid his counter attacks. 

Weiss was at this point sweating heavily from the short exchange. She went for another attack but this one was sloppy and she over extended herself.

Catching her blade with the steel plating on the heel of his boot, Naruto caught her rapier before pinning it to the ground, throwing Weiss off balance. Blake and Yang took this opportunity to strike thinking he left himself open.

Blake jumped at what she thought was his blindside but with a shift of his weight, Naruto intercepted her with a side kick to the face.

A buzzer immediately blared signifying that Blake's Aura had fallen into the red and she was out of the fight.

Using his now outstretched leg, he knocked Yang's fist to the ground with an axe kick, before pushing her away with a kick to the chest. 

Finally, Naruto ended Weiss with a Kyokushin Wheel Kick to the head. Causing the buzzer to sound a second time.

In an instant, Naruto had taken out both Blake and Weiss while also fending off Yang. And he had yet to take his hands out of his pockets.

Yang charged at him again. Using his foot, he lifted Myrtenaster into the air before hitting it with a round house kick at Yang who side stepped it.

"Hah missed." She taunted.

"True. It's a shame about your hair though."

That comment stopped Yang cold.

Looking behind her, she saw a few stands of her hair floating in the wind, cut by Myrtenaster.

"You."

"Fucking." Her eyes turned red.

"Asshole!" Her Aura exploded into flames as she rocketed at Naruto. 

He weaved his way through the flurry of jabs, hooks, and straights she threw at him. Every time she overstepped, Naruto kicked the outside of her right knee, wearing her down as he weathered the assault. 

Putting her strength into it again to launch a haymaker, the damage overtime showed and her knee buckled slightly, throwing her off balance. 

This small opening was all Naruto needed. He launched a brutal knee strike, hitting Yang in the head. Between the force of the kick and the fact Yang was leaning forward slightly and off balance, the knee strike depleted the rest of Yang's Aura causing the buzzer to sound a third time.

Naruto got no time to rest however, a loud crack was heard before Naruto's shoulder exploded in a shower of gore.

Another shot followed immediately after, taking out a chunk of his side.

Grimacing, Naruto dodged the third shot, his woulds already healing themselves.

A stream of rose petals burst out of the tree line right at Naruto.

Ruby set a blistering pace on her offensive, enough so that Naruto was forced to dodge constantly. Each attack came faster than the last and Ruby began to interweave shots from her sniper to keep pace with Naruto every time he attempted to create space. 

Ruby kept Naruto on the back foot, forcing him back. 

She thought so anyways. When she saw him smirk, the alarm on her face almost made Naruto laugh. She had too much momentum and her strike was committed. A spinning vertical strike threatened to slice into his head. Naruto merely bowed infront of her.

Unbeknownst to Ruby, Naruto had infact been leading her around instead of having been forced back. 

Crescent Rose struck the solid stone behind Naruto with a resounding clang. Sinking a couple inches into the stone, stuck.

"Aaaaaand"

The alarm goes off.

"Times up." Naruto said walking away as Ruby struggled to get her scythe out of the stone.

Team RWBY gathered, sitting in the clearing nursing their injuries, or in Ruby's case, the injury to her weapon.

"Shhh it'll be ok. Mama will fix you good as new." Ruby whispered to her scythe as she rubbed the side of the now badly chipped blade.

"So I think I've proved my point. Any more objections to me training you?" Naruto asked. He received none, although the sisters were both glaring at him for damaging something precious to them.

"Why did you lose." Naruto asked bluntly.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Because we were outmatched."

"Wrong."

"What do you mean wrong, you toyed with us for 15 minutes. You never even needed to take your hands out of your pockets let alone draw a weapon." Blake said.

"That isn't why we lost though." Yang said, staring down at her hands. "He let us fight how we wanted to instead of just overpowering us. It was entirely different than how he fought the grimm in the city."

Blake caught on now. "You were examining us. This wasn't about proving some point about how strong you are."

"No he was teaching us." Ruby said.

"Teaching us what? How painful metal plated boots to the head are?" Weiss griped.

"He was teaching us what our weaknesses are. The first time, he stepped into me and let himself get hit by the shaft of my scythe before removing me from the fight. If someone gets too close, my weapon becomes a lot less effective. Then he showed the environment could be used to abuse Crescent Rose. She's much harder to wield in cluttered space." Ruby said, looking at Naruto for his reaction.

"Good. That is enough for today. Tomorrow, you three need to tell me why you lost. If you fail to, then you will fight me again. Except I won't pull my punches nearly as much. Dismissed." With that, Naruto walked off towards the city.

While Yang, Weiss, and Blake all headed back into Beacon, Ruby decided to follow Naruto.

After the short flight from Beacon into Vale proper, she followed him as he pulled out a cigarette and wandered into the older parts of town, eventually stopping at a restaurant called "Ramen: The greatest pleasure" before tossing his smoke and taking a seat. 

Before she could find a good spot to hide however...

"You came all this way Ruby, you might as well join me." Naruto said, not even turning to look at her.

Ruby sheepishly stopped trying to hide and sat down on the stool next to him.

"Yo Kansui!" Naruto shouted at the chef in the back. 

"Aye Naruto? That you? What can I get for you?"

Naruto turns to Ruby. "Have you ever eaten real ramen before?"

"Nope. It smells good though."

"Bring us a Shio, Shoyu, and a Miso!"

"Coming right up!" The chef shouted back.

"So, what did you want to ask me?" Naruto said, getting the ball rolling.

"Oh! Uh, actually I have a few questions." Ruby said, ducking down into her cloak a bit.

"Shoot."

"Okaaay, why don't you have a weapon?" Ruby said, picking a question she thought was pretty safe to start with.

Naruto leaned back, thinking.

"I don't really need one I guess. I had a staff a while back but for most of my life, a few throwing knives and my hands have been all I needed. Ok. My turn."

"Wha?" Was Ruby's eloquent response.

"For every question you ask, I'm going to ask one in return. So...ah it will have to wait." As he was saying this, a 20some year old man wearing a white robe and a chef's hat came out of the back of the shop, balancing three large bowls of ramen before setting them infront of Naruto and Ruby, and placing a renge (ramen spoon) on the side of each bowl and two pairs of chopsticks before them as well.

"Go head and try each one and see which you prefer. I'll take the other two."

Ruby nodded, picking up the renge and tasting the Miso first. Naruto raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. Ruby made a bit of a face. 

"I like the taste but the texture of the stuff floating in it is...strange."

Moving on to the Shio ramen.

"It's not bad but it's kind of uh plain."

Finally, the shoyu.

"Oh! I like this!" She said, before grabbing her chopsticks and slurping with reckless abandon which Naruto mirrored.

(This may or may not be based on my experience trying real ramen for the first time.)

She noticed Naruto smiling briefly. Once again, she was drawn to his eyes. It was almost like the ice in them melted into crystal clear blue oceans.

Her staring did not go unnoticed long however as Naruto turned to face her.

"Do I have something on my face?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Huh? No! Uh I was just wondering what your question would be." Ruby asked, blushing from having been caught.

"Oh. Right." His eyes seemed to freeze over again.

"What exactly is your semblance?" Naruto decided on, as he began eating his ramen, slower this time.

"I can use my Aura to speed myself up a lot! It's really helpful in a pinch but it takes a lot of Aura to do." Ruby said proudly.

"Speed huh? ...interesting." Something didn't add up in that answer, but she also wasn't lying to him. Naruto stored that bit of info away for later. "Your turn."

"Why were you on Mount Glenn?" Ruby asked as she finished her ramen, somehow slower than Naruto managed to eat his two bowls.

Naruto didn't answer at first, instead paid for their food and lit a smoke as the two began to walk through the city.

  
*long drag* *exhale* "I prefer places like that." Naruto answered cryptically. "It's not much of an answer. You can ask something else."

Ruby thinks on this for a while, saying nothing as they walk. She just observed Naruto, his posture, the way he walked. He was hunched over, burning through his smoke rapidly. Every step he took looked heavy. As they get off the shuttle back to Beacon, Ruby finally speaks up.

"How long have you been fighting?" She asks.

She noticed how Naruto briefly stiffened upon being asked that question. 

"I started training when I was six. Why?"

"What!? When you were six?"

"I'm not from the kingdoms. Children were taught young because the world they had to face was far more dangerous."

"Is that why you look so tired?"

"...maybe. I assume you can get back from here." Naruto said, as he started to walk off.

"Yeah..."

**Author's Note:**

> As always, any criticism is welcome. I cant get better if nobody points out my mistakes.


End file.
